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Tess Catalano assessment of Take Back the Night event, 1982

Assessment of Take Back The Night Page 2

a woman's "experience" becomes her knowledge. It becomes the truth, it becomes fact. Men who want to attend such women only events under the assumption that they are "educational", should for the time being, use other forms of education, such as materials from the Rape Victim Advocacy Program, libraries and educational programs at services like the Women's Resource and Action Center. 
   Asking men to stay away from events like Take Back the Night does not mean that men don't feel pain and anger about violence against women. That is why an alternative event was planned as a part of the entire program. A meeting place and facilitators were provided for men to come together what specific feelings they as men have about violence against women. Men's reactions and experiences surrounding violence against women are different than a woman's primarily because men don't experience the violence directly. 
   It is also true that some men are the victims of sexual violence. These men should be offered the necessary support to cope with such experiences. However, by raising this particular issue, it is easy to forget that women are the primary victims of sexual abuse and men are the primary abusers. Because of internalized sexism, what men and women experience as victims of sexual violence is different, as it the support needed to cope with the violence. 
   The fact that men are the primary perpetrators of violence against women does not mean that all men are rapists. Statistical evidence cannot identify a "victim" as it cannot identify a "perpetrator". Yet as a "survival tactic" women have learned to be cautious of all men. By making Take Back the Night for women

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a woman's "experience" becomes her knowledge. It becomes the truth, it becomes fact. Men who want to attend such women only events under the assumption that they are "educational", should for the time being, use other forms of education, such as materials from the Rape Victim Advocacy Program, libraries and educational programs at services like the Women's Resource and Action Center. Asking men to stay away from events like Take Back the Night does not mean that men don't feel pain and anger about violence against women. That is why an alternative event was planned as a part of the entire program. A meeting place and facilitators were provided for men to come together what specific feelings they as men have about violence against women. Men's reactions and experiences surrounding violence against women are different than a woman's primarily because men don't experience the violence directly. It is also true that some men are the victims of sexual violence. These men should be offered the necessary support to cope with such experiences. However, by raising this particular issue, it is easy to forget that women are the primary victims of sexual abuse and men are the primary abusers. Because of internalized sexism, what men and women experience as victims of sexual violence is different, as it the support needed to cope with the violence. The fact that men are the primary perpetrators of violence against women does not mean that all men are rapists. Statistical evidence cannot identify a "victim" as it cannot identify a "perpetrator". Yet as a "survival tactic" women have learned to be cautious of all men. By making Take Back the Night for women